Cushioned die for swaging sheet-metal articles



' (NcHodeL) R0. CANNON.

GUSHIONED DIE FOR BWAGING SHEET METAL ARTICLES,

0. 385,905. Patented July 10, 1888 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED. C. CANNON, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

CUSHIONED DIE FOR SWAGING SHEET-METAL ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,905, dated July 10,1888.

Application filed April 16, IP88. Serial No. 270.811. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED. O. CANNON, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have inventcda now Improvement in ])iesfor Swaging Sheet-Metal Articles; and I do hereby declare thefollownying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to bea full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which saiddrawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Eigurc 1, a vertical central section through the two dies and cushion,the dies in position before commencing operation; Fig. 2, the same asFig. 1, with the swaging operation complete; Fig. 3, a modification inthe construetion of the cavity or lower die; Fig. 4, a perspectivesectional view of a coach-lamp rellector such as may be produced underthis invention.

This invention relates to an improvement in swaging articles from sheetmetal.

in the more general practice the dies for swaging articles from sheetmetal are prepared the one the reverse of the other, onesay the lowerand stationary die-having a cavity the bottom of which corresponds tothe outer-surface of the article to be produced. The otherthat is, theupper die or followerhas its under face the reverse of the face of thelower die, and corresponds to the interior surface of the article to beproduced, so that the blanlrof sheet metal is forced down into the dieand brought to shape'between the working-faces of the two parts of thedie; but

in thus swaging the article the surface finish of the metal isunavoidably effected by coming in contact with the surface of the lowerdie, so that a sheet-metal article thus swaged requires to be finishedand burnished after it comes from the die, for if the surface of theblank be first burnished thelustcror brilliancy of the surface will beso much affected by coming in contact with the surface of the lower diethat reburnishing is necessary.

The object of my invention is the construction of dies in which the faceor outer surface contact with the sheet metal may be ofa non-metalliccharacter, and so that while it will work in conjunction with the upperdie,

lug, when taken in connection with aceompa-' to give the required shape,the said non-metallic material will not dctri mentally atiect thesurface of the metal; and the invention consists in an iudia-rubbcrresistance or cushion,

adapted to the formation of a reflector for coach-lamps. I

A represents the movable or follower die, the under face of whichcorresponds to the shape of the reverse side of the rellcctororarticleto be produced.

B represents the stationary die. This die is formed with a cavitycorresponding to the outline of the follower-die A, and so that the saidfollower-die may enter the said cavity;

but the cavity is considerably deeper than the extent to which thefollowerdie is to enter. This cavity is filled with india-rubber, C, andpreferably so that normally the upper surface of the rubber is flushwith the upper surface of the die B, and so that as the followerdescends it will compress the indie-rubber, the rubber under suchcompression assuming a shape corresponding perfectly to the face of thefollower-die, as indicated in Fig. 2.

The blank from which the reflector or article is to be produced is laidupon the lower die in the proper position, over the india-rubber C. D,Fig. 1, represents the blank thus placed upon the die; then thefollower-die dcscends in the usual manner, forces the metal into thedie, the india-rubberyieldingaceordingly, and the compression betweenthe follower-die and the rubber causes the sheet metal to assume theshape of the face of the follower-die, as indicated in Fig. 2, it beingunderstood that the movement'of the follower die is to be suiiieient toso compress the rubber that the resisting force of the rubber will besufficient to bring the sheet metal to the said corresponding shape ofthe follower-die.

In some cases the central portion of the re flector is spun into shape,and then the surrounding surface struck to shape in dies. In this casethe 'india-rubber in the die may be be made in the form of a ring, asindicated in Fig. 3-that is, with a central opening through it ofadiameter corresponding to the already finished central surface of thereflector; then, as he partial ly-formed reflector-blank is forced intothe die. upon the indie-rubber ring. the corresponding surface is shapedas before; or the central portion within the ring may presentametalsurface corresponding to the required shape of the center, andthisceutral portion may be struck between the follower" and this centralportion, of the die, the surrounding portion being shaped. by. theiudiarubber ring. p

In Fi g. 4 I represent an inverted perspective view of one-half of areflector such as this invention is designed to produce, thisillustration showing a diainetrical section of the reflector.

The illustration of the invention as applied to swagiug coach-lampreflectors will be suffi- -cieut to enable those skilled inthe art toapply the invention to the swaging of other articles, it beingunderstood that my invention is not to be limited to the swaging of anyparticular article.

By the employment of india-rubberwithin the die as the resistance forthe follower the rubber presents a surface to the finished surface ofthe metal which doesnotdetrimentally affect-it, but,on the contrary,leaves the surface with the same degree of finish as before the swagingoperation took place. The metal thereforeen'iploycdin the manufacture ofthe swaged articles may be highly burnished or plated and burnished, sothat when the article comes from the die its surface will be asperfeetly finished as when the swaging first takes place between metalsurfaces, and is afterward" face surface of the blank, it prevents themetal from wrinkling, asit willofteu do, when being drawn into surfaces.

I claim- In dies for swagingsh'eet metal, the combi-- shape between twometallic nation of the die or follower A, having its face.

of a shape corresponding to the reverse side of the article to beswaged, and the otherdie, B,

hayiugacavit-y corresponding to said follower,

but of greater depth than the required entrance of the said followerinto the said die, with an india-rubber cushion, l, in said eavity toyieldingly resist the entrance of the follower into the die,substantially as and for the purpose described.

FRED. (J. CANNON.

Witnesses:

C. E. JONES, WM. W. LYENT.

